Life Straight Up (reposted - feedback wanted)

Chapter Twelve

Cole's POV

Watching her walk away from me almost killed me but I knew running after her right now would just make things worse. Not that my wolf felt the same way. I could feel him clawing at me, urging me to go after her, to comfort her. He'd been pretty much chewing my arse since Precious made an appearance. He had never liked her, but why would he when he knew exactly where his mate was waiting for him. I know what I did was wrong, I'm not completely stupid, and I should have pushed her away and gone to Ray. Instead I played dumb and froze, I just couldn't do anything, I couldn't move. I had never felt so awkward in my life. Despite my old slightly playboy lifestyle, I never had the misfortune of having a run in with a lover and an ex-lover. How could I tell Ray I used to be with Precious that I had been with Precious several times over the years? That no matter what happened to me that I always went back to Precious, not that I would now. Not now that I finally had Ray in my life, Precious is nothing to me. Nodding over to Nathan he fixed up my usual and placed it on the bar in front of me. He knew better than to ask questions, in the four years I'd known him he learnt very quickly when to keep his thoughts to himself. Although this time I could tell by the look on his face something was bothering him, he really wanted to say something.

"What!?" I snapped.

"You must have seriously fucked up," he replied shaking his head, making my temper grow.

"Nathan it's none of your business," I said through gritted teeth, my body trembling.

"I didn't say it was, but there aren't many women like that around, she's one in a million and she deserves to be treated like a goddess," he said looking me square in the eyes.

I was so tempted to snap his neck, it was more than clear by his choice of words he had a crush on my little mate.

"Nathan, I am only going to warn you once, don't you ever talk about Ray like that again. Don't even think about her. She is mine!" I roared, my voice carrying over the music making everything come to a screeching halt.

He looked at me smirking, this just angered me more.

"You have a funny way of showing it!" he spat in reply.

Without even thinking I grabbed a handful of his hair and slammed his face into the bar. The sound of bones cracking echoed around the now silent marquees. Within seconds Alec and Trent were pulling me off of him before I could do anymore damage.

"Come on Cole calm down," I heard Alec say, but I pulled myself out of his hold.

"Yeah mate come on, you're causing a scene," Trent added.

"So, what!" I shouted. "Come on everyone take a good bloody look."

"Cole this isn't the time for this," Alec whispered, pushing me towards the edge of the crowd.

"Get your hands off of me Alec!" I snapped. "I get it, I'll leave."

And with that I turned and shifted mid-air and took off into the woods.

I don't know how long I had been running, but I had quite easily ran around my territory borders at least six times. Normally running would calm me, but not this time. The only thing that would calm me now was Ray, but on the other hand, I couldn't go to her like this. If I turned up in our room still pissed off it would only stress her out, which was the last thing her and the baby needed. I only hoped that me upsetting her hadn't caused her too much stress. If I caused her to lose our baby it would destroy me, I would take my own life. The image of her in pain and crying drifted into my head, stopping me in my tracks. My wolf howled loudly in pain, I knew it wasn't real, but the thought of me hurting her was like a knife to the heart. My anger washed away instantly, I needed to be with her. I needed to love her and protect her, especially since she's felt so uneasy since the packs arrived. That's why I asked Trent to come, I knew if there was anything sinister going on he would find out about it. He could find anyone and anything. I just wished he hadn't brought his sister with him, he knows my history with her, he should have known better. My wolf whimpered giving all control back to me, making me shift unexpectedly. It drained me and I fell in a heap on the floor, Carwyn had never left me quite like that. It was almost as though he vanished, he drifted from me suddenly leaving me feeling empty. Ray's face flashed in my head before it faded just like Carwyn. It panicked me, making me stagger to my feet. My strength still hadn't come back to me, but I had to get up, I had to get to her. Walking on wobbly legs I slowly made my way back towards the pack house, back to Ray. After what felt like forever I found myself in our spot, the moon glistening on the lake. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath and leant up against a tree. I could feel my eyelids drooping slightly, so I closed them just for a second. Something definitely wasn't right. I opened my eyes and nearly jumped out of my skin. There in front of me stood Precious, her hand rested on her hip. My stomach churned as she eyed up my naked body. Unlike the days when I longed for her to look at me hungrily, now it just made me sick and enraged me. I could feel my heart pounding and my strength slowly come back to me.

"What the hell do you want Precious?" I spat, trying to push myself off the tree I was resting on.

"They said you stormed off, so I came out here to look for you, you should know by now Cole, no matter what I'll always find you," she replied biting her bottom lip.

"Yeah well you found me, now fuck off. You've caused enough damage," I shouted angrily, wiping the smirk off her face.

"Fuck you Cole," she shouted back.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that! What the hell have you got to be pissed about?" I asked angrily, taking a step towards her.

"Seriously, you have no idea why I'm pissed? Really?" she answered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Enlighten me, then fuck off," I replied.

"I'm pissed because you left me, you just up and left me. I was with you the day you heard about that Alpha and his heir. For fuck sake Cole, I was in your bed. As soon as you ended that call you grabbed your stuff and left, you left without even saying goodbye," she shouted tears streamed from her eyes.

I knew what she was talking about, I remembered that day clearly, but it didn't change anything.

"Precious, you knew this day was coming, you knew I had a mate out there. That one day I would be with her," I replied, my body tensing.

"No, I didn't. I thought it was you and me against the world. I thought one day you would give up and we'd spend the rest of our days together. Instead you ran off after some little slut and I come here to see you playing happy families," she screamed, her whole body shaking.

I saw red as soon as the word slut left her lips. I stalked towards her and grabbed hold of her throat. I squeezed it tightly, making her eyes bulge. Despite the lack of oxygen, she stared me in the eyes and stood her ground, just like she did in every situation. She never backed down and never showed any signs of weakness.

"She is my mate Precious, I chose her. It will always be her. The sooner you realise this and move on with your life the better. Go out and find your own mate for Christ sake," I said letting go of her and turning my back to her.

"I did," she gasped.

"What?" I asked.

"I did find my mate years ago, but I turned him down to be with you," she replied as I turned around to face her.

"Why would you do that?" I asked, shouting at her.

"Because I love you!" she screamed, running at me.

She threw herself at me and pressed her lips fiercely onto mine. This time I didn't freeze I pushed her off me instantly.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I shouted wiping my arm across my mouth.

"Come on, we can be together, just you and me like it always was," she cried as she ran towards me again.

"Precious get the fuck off my land and don't come back!" I roared.

She cowered slightly at my words but soon recovered. She glared at me as she turned and walked away.

"You'll regret this Cole, you just wait and see. You've pissed off the wrong woman!" she threatened before she shifted and disappeared into the woods.

I rubbed my hands over my face. I had more important things to worry about right now, I didn't need some crazy bitch on my back. Just as I was about to carry on, on my way back to the house. Alec and Chris came racing towards me. They came to a skidding halt in front of me, both looking panicked. Thoughts of Ray losing the baby raced through my mind.

"What's happened? What's wrong?" I asked as I struggled to control my erratic heart.

The words that left Chris's lips made my blood run cold.

"Ray is gone, someone's taken her!"

he right amou}